Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I made this cake dummy from Styrofoam rounds and covered it with fondant. I use it to display the mini bunting cake toppers that I sell in my Etsy shop, however I have used them to display on dessert tables at parties as well. They are really easy to make and you can use this simple technique to make all different sizes of them. I made mine very simple so that I can reuse it for different holidays and occasions. I pin different colors of ribbon around the center or bottom to decorate it. However, you could color your fondant and add fondant decorations to the cake as well. They last a really long time, I have had some for a few years before throwing them away.

Here is what you will need:

3 - 6"x1" Styrofoam rounds

2 wooden cake dowels, cut into 4 pieces

Fondant (can use wilton brand from craft store)

Wire cutters or something to trim the wood dowels

Mat (to roll fondant on)

Rolling pin

1. Stack the rounds to make your cake. You can use whichever size you'd like, I made mine with 6" rounds.

2. Insert one of the wooden dowels into all three rounds and mark it at the top where it is level with the Styrofoam.

3. Trim all four of the dowels to that length

4. Insert them into the Styrofoam cake as shown above. This will home the pieces of Styrofoam together.

1. Roll out your mat and dust with cornstarch.

2. Roll out your fondant large enough so that it will cover the your cake with some excess to trim off the bottom. It helps to have a mat with the measurements on it. (so if your cake is 6"x3" you want your fondant to be rolled to about 13" all the way around. Don't make it too thin or the Styrofoam will tear through the fondant. The wilton fondant works great for cake dummies.

3. Flip your mat upside down on top of the Styrofoam cake so that it is centered.

4. Peel back the mat so that the cake looks like the picture above.

5. Now you will need to pull the fondant so that it is smooth of the cake without and creases or folds. You can use an angled spatula to help trim the extra fondant off from the bottom of the cake. Work on small sections at a time, working your way around the cake until all of it is smooth and trimmed. Let the cake dry. If you want to have any holes in the cake to hold toppers or candles make them while the fondant is still soft.

I wanted to do a Christmas craft with Hudson and thought it would be fun to help him make an ornament for our tree. I got the idea from Parent's Magazine here. They have so many great craft and Christmas ornament ideas! The one that they made has penguins in the "snow globe" made from pipe cleaners. It was really cute, I just didn't have any pipe cleaners. So Hudson and I made a snow globe ornament with a Christmas tree in it and a North Pole sign.
Here is what you'll need to make this one:

1 Small clear plastic cup

Stiff felt for base and sign

Red bakers twine

1 Red stripes paper straw

Green tulle

1 Lollipop stick

Silver glitter

Tacky spray glue

Scissors

Pen

Thumb tack, to poke hole in cup

First trace around the top of the plastic cup on a piece of the stiff felt. Then cut out the circle slightly larger then the line so that the cup will fit on the felt.

Next using the thumb tack poke a hole in the bottom of the cup (the top of your ornament). My plastic cup cracked a little at the top, but it didn't really matter. Fold your piece of twine in half and thread through the hole. Tie a knot so the twine won't come back through the hole. You should now have a loop to hang your ornament like in the picture.

Next cut your paper straw so it will fit inside of the cup. Then cut a small rectangle of felt and write North Pole on it. Glue the sign around the top of the striped paper straw.

Next cut pieces of tulle and begin to tie them around the lollipop stick. Don't worry about what it looks like with the length of the tulle because you will just trim it with scissors. You may need to cut the lollipop stick shorter. Once it is covered in tulle trim the tulle so it is shaped like a tree. We wrapped a small piece of silver pipe cleaner on top.

Then you can glue the tree and North Pole sign onto the stiff felt. Make sure it is centered so that the cup will fit over top.

Then place your tree in a box (so glitter doesn't get everywhere) and spray with the tacky glue. Sprinkle with glitter and shake off any excess. Then glue on the cup and let it dry before hanging.

A lot of this craft required me getting it ready for what Hudson was able to do or helping him do it. But, we still had fun making it together! An older child would be able to do much more of this on their own.

Here are a few great handmade gift ideas if you're looking to make something for someone this year. Love all of these ideas! I am making a few felt car playmats, however mine will not be as beautifully detailed as this one by Homemade by Jill! Love all of the thoughtful details included on it.

The Purlbee has lots of other awesome tutorials for handmade items that would make great gifts!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

She is getting married in about one month and I am so excited for her and Kyle. We had a lot of fun celebrating her the other night and I wanted to share some of the pictures. The pictures were taken by Andrea of Limeflower Studio. Thanks so much Andrea for capturing the night for us!

The Bridal Shower was an evening shower, for cocktails, cupcakes, and other desserts. All the girls came dressed in their best and looked awesome!

We played the toilet paper wedding dress game. You divide into groups of about 4-5 girls and each group is given about 3 rolls of toilet paper to make a wedding dress. Each group must pick one girl in the group to model the dress. Everyone got pretty creative and had a lot of fun with it!

The Bride-to-be gets to choose the winner.

The other game we played was the Bridal Shower Trivia Game. I video taped Kyle (the Groom) answering 13 questions about Wesley (the Bride). Then at the shower you give the guests the questions to try to answer. Once everyone is done filling out their answers you play the video, but have the bride answer the questions before playing the grooms answer. It was another fun game that got lots of laughs! Whoever answers the most questions correctly wins a prize.

Then we all had fun being silly for pictures in the photo booth area I had set up. I bought teal wrapping paper and taped it to the wall.

It was a great night, and loved celebrating my little sister... Next up Bachelorette Party!!!